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Project

Consortium of European partners and the EAAD (European Alliance against depression) (EAAD Best)

The European EAAD-Best project aims at a large-scale implementation of the four-part program of the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD) in Europe.

EAAD is an international non-profit organization that was created thanks to previous project funding from the EU (2004-2008). The organization aims to improve the care and treatment of people with depression and suicidal thoughts through a community-based intervention that simultaneously focuses on activities that are situated on four levels:

  • Level 1: training and support for general practitioners and mental health professionals.
  • Level 2: awareness-raising through PR activities, kick-off events and media campaigns.
  • Level 3: training of relevant key figures in society (eg priests, pharmacists, police, journalists, geriatric care providers) and the development of media guidelines for correct reporting on suicide.
  • Level 4: supporting people with depression and suicidal thoughts and their loved ones with information material, self-help groups and the iFightDepression tool and website.

Over the years, EAAD has developed an extensive collection of materials that countries and regions can use to realize the above actions. The iFightDepression tool and website are among the most recent materials developed by EAAD.

The iFightDepression tool is an online self-management tool for people with milder forms of depression that health professionals (including GPs) can offer their patients. The iFightDepression website is aimed at a wide audience and collects relevant information about depression.

EAAD interventions have been implemented in more than 120 regions in 15 countries inside and outside Europe. The EAAD-Best project aims to roll out the four-part EAAD intervention including the iFightdepression tool and website in new countries and regions in Europe.

Five implementation countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Italy and Poland) that are not yet familiar with the EAAD interventions are participating in EAAD-Best. Initially, the EAAD interventions in each of these countries will be implemented in one region. This region will subsequently serve as a model for the further expansion of the EAAD interventions to other regions. In addition to these five implementation countries, three other countries that are already familiar with the EAAD interventions are participating in EAAD-Best (Hungary, Ireland and Spain). In these countries, the implementation of the interventions is being intensified and extended to new regions.

LUCAS KU Leuven has the role of evaluator within the EAAD-Best project. This means that LUCAS is responsible for developing an evaluation plan to verify whether the implementation of the EAAD interventions in the eight countries (1) is progressing as intended (process evaluation), (2) is done in a quality manner (output evaluation). and (3) delivers the expected results (impact evaluation).

Date:2 Apr 2021 →  Today
Keywords:suicide, implementation science, depression, EAAD
Disciplines:Medical informatics, Mental healthcare services, Primary health care